Table of Contents
October 7, 2020
I started writing my blog in April 2020, at a time when the world seems to have fallen apart. In the midst of a global pandemic that seemed to have everyone taking on an opinion, I tried to tune out what I considered noise--things that didn't matter to my daily routine and I simply trudged on with my daily life. That is, until a particular conspiracy tying 5G to Covid-19 arose that even I had caught wind, which meant it was so widespread at the time that it even got to me. Now, by nature, I am not into politics at all, which is why I have avoided digging too much into Covid-19 given how politicized the topic had become. However, when 5G got involved, it became personal because much of my research revolved around it. I mulled over the idea of writing something on my personal website to rebuke it and rectify the myth, but I initially put off the notion because I didn't want to get into things "politically". Then it dawned on me--when did the spread of misinformation become political? In a transformative era when billions of people around the world are using education to escape poverty, spreading misinformation isn't just wrong, it's dangerous and suppressive to those who are using the power of knowledge to build a better life for themselves and for the world. Spreading misinformation, whatever the motive, is the antithesis to humanity.
So I decided to take on two things when writing my first post--a blog about 5G. I wanted to talk about my research and also shed light to the public about 5G. Specifically, the blog at the time was an article detailing my research in 5G when I was in grad school where I focused on de-technifying various esoteric parts of my studies. I had hoped that the general public not only can have a sense about what I had worked on, but also from those details understand what 5G is and how it really works. I also added, throughout the post, commentary rebuking the untrue myths about 5G and at the end rallied for those that came across the post to use truth to continue pursuing the human destiny of ever-advancing our knowledge and the grasp of technology to build a better world.
After my first blog post, I thought about what I wanted to write next as I looked into my own interests and thought about how I can relate those interests to what is happening today, so that the posts would add value to those that read them. After the 5G post, a flourish of ideas rushed into my mind about my future writings, and I had to reach into my soul for what to do next. No doubt, my first post is an eye-opener for me because for the very first time, I opened up my research to the outside-IEEE world and felt good in doing my part to fight against the spread of misinformation. For follow-up I decided to write a series of posts about math. The top priority for me, after I made the decision, is to make sure that never, never, never will I make my articles feel like math tutorials. I do not want to regurgitate what my readers would have potentially seen in schools and make them feel like taking math classes again. Instead, I planned to make my posts interesting, drawing connections and hopefully have my readers go "Aha!" a few times into their readings. The rationale is simple--I want to not only educate and inspire those that come to my blog about math, but also to demonstrate the importance of critical thinking that is essential in math and in life.
Critical thinking is such an important skill right now as it is the only weapon human beings have for fighting against ignorance and empowering positive change out of the challenges that we face today. Even before the chaotic events in 2020, the rise of machines implied that menial tasks once performed by humans will be replaced by automation. Even creative tasks one day will suffer the same fate thanks to the advent of AI and Machine Learning. So, what are humans good for? We have a brain, and critical thinking is the act of using the brain for more than processing what we perceive on the surface. Machines can think deep, but we can think deeper. It is simply a matter of willpower whether we choose to go the extra length before forming a judgment or throw up the proverbial white flag to ignorance. It is the only sliver of humanity we can cling onto in the future.
I hope through my blogs I can inspire some form of positive change on critical thinking, and please contact me through Email (davidyding19 AT gmail DOT com) if you have any comments to any part of my blog. Thank you for reading!